Promoting the Low-Stress Slaughter of Cattle

The Vontobel Foundation has had a longstanding cooperative relationship with the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (“FiBL”). From 2022 to 2024, the foundation has supported FiBL with a contribution to the research project "Low-Stress Slaughter – Impact of On-Farm Slaughter on Behavior, Stress Physiology, and Meat Quality of Cattle."

The Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (“FiBL”) is one of the world's leading institutions for research and technology transfer in organic farming. The close integration of different research areas and the exchange of knowledge between research and practice are particular strengths of FiBL. The goals of all the work it does in the Department of Livestock Sciences revolve around developing strategies to improve organic livestock farming and breeding and to promote animal welfare. All departments strive to produce excellent scientific publications and bring about a transfer of this knowledge into practice.

The research project "Impact of On-Farm Slaughter on Behavior, Stress Physiology, and Meat Quality of Cattle" has been ongoing since 2022 and compares the behavior, stress indicators, and meat quality of cattle slaughtered on the farm with the corresponding parameters of similar cattle from the same farm that were slaughtered in a conventional slaughterhouse during a similar period. This way, stress-inducing and stress-reducing factors can be identified on various farms for both methods, as well as examining their impact on meat quality.

The aim is to improve knowledge of stress-inducing factors before slaughter in order to minimize these factors. Consulting, informational events, and articles in practice journals all play a role. These activities should promote low-stress slaughter and very good meat quality.